Roland Fantom G6 User manual

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© 2008, 2009, 2010 Roland Corporation U.S.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of Roland Corporation U.S.
FGWS05
Single Mode in the Fantom-G
®ÂØÒňήWorkshop
Fantom-G Workstation Keyboard

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About the Workshop Booklets
Roland’s Fantom G6, G7, and G8—the Fantom-G family—set a new standard
for excellence in workstation keyboards, with spectacular sounds and
incredible built-in effect-processing muscle. A beautiful full-color LCD
display and innovative performance features make getting around a pleasure
and make the G6, G7, and G8 a dream to play. For recording, the Fantom-G
contains a powerful 152 MIDI/audio track sequencer. Each Fantom-G can
also host two Roland ARX SuperNATURAL™ cards whose breakthrough
modeling technology provides sounds with amazing sonic detail, expressive
possibilities, and sound-design opportunities.
Each Fantom-G Workshop Series booklet focuses on one Fantom-G topic,
and is intended as a companion to the Fantom G6/G7/G8 Owner’s Manual.
This booklet requires Fantom-G Operating System v1.30 or higher. You can
download the latest Fantom-G O.S. for free from www.RolandUS.com.
About This Booklet
This booklet’s about Single mode, where you can approach the Fantom-G
in its simplest, most straight-ahead way. In Single mode, you can play one
sound on the keyboard and a rhythm set or sample set on the pads. It’s the
mode for working with a patch by itself, and for programming patches.
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, you’ll come across information that deserves
special attention—that’s the reason it’s labeled with one of the following
symbols.
A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.
A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.
Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid
possible damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.
Clicking or Pressing
As explained in the Power User Control Fantom-G Workshop booklet, you
can perform most operations on the Fantom-G using either a connected
mouse—sold separately—or the Fantom-G’s own front-panel controls.
If you’re using a mouse: If you’re using the Fantom-G’s controls:
You select parameters and objects with
a left click. You change the selected
parameter’s value by turning the scroll
wheel. You can often display a menu by
right-clicking an object.
You select parameters and objects with the
3, 4, 5, and 6buttons. Change a
selected parameter’s setting by turning the
Value dial or by pressing DEC and INC.
Left click Right click
Scroll
wheel
Value dial
In any situation, the best method to use is always simply the one that feels
most natural to you.
Going forward, when we want you to click an onscreen button or its
physical counterpart—your choice, of course—we’ll simply tell you to “click”
the button. The same mouse-centric logic will apply to any other virtual
versus physical control issues we encounter. If there’s only one way to do
something, we’ll tell you so. Beyond that, remember that whether you use a
mouse or the Fantom-G’s built-in controls is entirely up to you.

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The Single Play Screen
In the Fantom-G, each mode’s Play screen acts as its home screen. Here’s
what you’ll see on the Single Play screen when you press the SINGLE MODE
button.
In this screenshot, we’ve set the pads to Rhythm mode.
There are parameters to set, information readouts, as well as the three global
mouse buttons available on all Fantom-G screens at the top right.
Top Information Strip
Screen name
Active effects area
Song location readout
Global mouse buttons
Screen name—• The title of this screen.
Active effects area—
• This informational area shows the effects that are
currently turned on. When an effect is on, it’s lit. Otherwise, it’s gray.
In Single mode, each patch has its own PFX, well as its own chorus and
reverb settings. You can also apply MFX 1 to an audio input or audio
track output, and you can use the Fantom-G’s mastering effect on the
entire output. We’ll discuss effects in the Fantom-G Effects booklet.
Song location readout—• This shows your present location in the currently
loaded song.
Global mouse buttons—
• Available at the top of all Fantom-G screens,
these three icons act as buttons when you’re using a mouse. The first
button takes you to the Menu screen, the middle one acts as a Back
button to the previous screen where that makes sense, and the last
button opens the Shortcut menu.
Keyboard Area
This area of the Single Play screen allows you to select the sound to be
played from the Fantom-G keyboard. Here’s what its parameters are and do.
Part Group Part Number Type Category Category lockBank
Transposition area Selected sound Active tones area
Part group—• This parameter lets you select the source of the sound you
want to play on the keyboard. You can choose Internal, EXP 1 or 2 for
sounds from an ARX board, or External to play external MIDI sounds.
When you’ve set Part Group to External, the Part Number, Type, and
Bank parameters operate in a special way. We’ll talk about this after
we explain how they work when Part Group is set to Internal, EXP 1,
or EXP 2.

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Part Number—• In Single mode, the keyboard part is always Part 1 when
you’re using internal sounds. The number of parts you can select with
an EXP board depends on the board’s capabilities.
Type—
• Use the Type parameter to choose the kind of internal sound you
want the keyboard to play. You can select Patch, Rhythm for a rhythm
set, or Sample for a sample set.
Bank—
• The Bank parameters sets the area of memory from which you
can select an internal sound.
Category—
• Use this parameter to choose a musical instrument category
from which you’ll select an internal patch.
Category Lock—
• Once you’ve chosen a category, you can lock in that
choice to avoid inadvertently switching to another category as you
hunt for the patch you want.
Transposition area—
• When you’ve transposed the keyboard, as explained
on Page 5 in this booklet, you can see the transposed pitches the
Fantom-G’s keys produce as you play.
Active tones area—
• This information-only area shows you the tones that
are turned on in the current patch, or the current rhythm set note.
To learn more about tones and patch programming, see the Editing
Fantom-G Patches Workshop booklet.
When You’re Controlling External MIDI Sounds
When Part Group on the Single Play screen is set to External:
Part Number—
• selects the MIDI channel on which the keyboard transmits
its data. Your external MIDI device must be set to the same MIDI channel
to receive the data.
Type—
• transmits a MIDI Bank Select MSB value, the first half of the MIDI
Bank Select message you’ll need to send the external device if you want
to select one of its sound banks.
Bank—
• transmits a MIDI Bank Select LSB value that’s the second half of
a MIDI Bank Select message.
If you’re new to MIDI, check out the InFocus booklet An Introduction to
MIDI, which you can download from the RolandUS website.
Dynamic Pad Area
The Dynamic Pad area of the Single Play screen provides a window onto—
and some control of—the Fantom-G’s pads.
The pads have their own Workshop booklet that explains their use: the
Power User Control 2: The Pads booklet.
Though the DYNAMIC PADS PAD MODE button is faster and easier to use, the
Pad Mode parameter in the Dynamic Pad area also sets what the pads do.
The remaining elements of the Dynamic Pad area are used only when the
pads are set to Rhythm pad mode or Sample pad mode. Here’s what they
do:
Pad Group Pad Part Pad ModePadType
Selected soundBank
Pad Group—• Use this parameter to choose the source of the rhythm set
you want the pads to play. You can select Internal, EXP 1or 2for rhythm
sets from an installed ARX board, or External to play external sounds
from the pads via MIDI.
Pad Part—
• This readout is always set to Part 8 in Rhythm pad mode.
Pad Type—
• This readout shows the pads are to play rhythm set sounds.
Pad Mode—
• This parameter selects the desired pad mode.
Bank—
• This selects the internal or EXP memory area from which you
want to select a rhythm set.
Selected sound—
• Use this parameter to select the desired rhythm or
sample set.

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Realtime Control Area
The Fantom-G’s realtime controls let you temporarily re-shape sounds
on-the-fly in Single mode—we’ll discuss them in the Manipulating Sounds in
Realtime Workshop booklet. The Realtime Control area shows what they’re
up to. F4 (Control) reveals their setup screen, but you needn’t go there now.
Control slider settings
Control knob assignments and settings
S1 and S2 switches and D Beam
assignments and settings
Control slider assignments
Control slider settings—• As you move a control
slider, this area shows the slider’s current setting.
The TEMPO/VALUE LED to the left of the display
momentarily shows the setting more precisely.
Control slider assignments—
• This readout shows
the jobs to which the control sliders are currently assigned.
Control knob assignments and settings—
• This area shows the jobs
assigned to the four realtime control knobs at the left of the display. It
also shows each knob’s current setting.
When you select a new live set and after you power up, the sliders and
knobs take effect only once they’re physically moved.
S1 and S2 and D Beam assignments and settings—• This area shows the
jobs to which the S1 switch, S2 switch, and D Beam are assigned, and
the controls’ current settings.
When an S1 or 2 switch is set to the same job as a control knob, turning
on the S switch also lights the control knob’s settings onscreen.
Help Area
Underneath the Control slider settings area, you’ll find the Help area where
you can see the name of the parameter that’s currently selected on the
Single Play screen as well as its current setting.
Transposing the Keyboard
Normally, the Fantom-G keyboard plays in concert pitch. (On the Fantom X6
and X7, Middle C is roughly beneath the F3 button. On the Fantom-G X8,
Middle C is roughly beneath the F4 button.) By transposing the Fantom-G
keyboard, you can play in any key you find physically comfortable as your
notes are automatically converted to the desired transposed pitches.
As we noted on Page 4, the small keyboard under the Patch Number/
Name parameter shows the notes the keyboard’s actually producing.
If you register a Favorite of a patch you’re transposing, the Favorite
remembers the transposition for you.

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Transposing the Keyboard by Semitones
To transpose the keyboard by half-steps, or “semitones”:
1 Press the TRANSPOSE button so it lights.
To transpose the keyboard:
2
down by semitones—• press the -OCT button
once for each semitone by which you want to
lower the pitch.
up by semitones—
• press the +OCT button
once for each semitone by which you want to
raise the pitch.
The screen briefly shows the amount by which you’re transposing.
To return the keyboard to concert pitch, repeat Step 2 in reverse.
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Turning off the TRANSPOSE button doesn’t switch off transposition—it
merely sets you up for transposing by octaves, as we’re about to see.
Transposing the Keyboard By Octaves
To transpose the keyboard up or down in octave steps:
1 Make sure the TRANSPOSE button is unlit.
To transpose the keyboard:
2
downward by octaves—• press the -OCT button
once for each octave by which you want to
lower the pitch.
upward by octave—
• press the +OCT button
once for each octave by which you want to
raise the pitch.
The screen momentarily shows the amount by which you’re
transposing.
To return the keyboard to concert pitch, repeat Step 2 in reverse.
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The Patch List Screen in Depth
The Patch List Screens
There are actually several Patch List screens—the one you want depends on
what kind of sound it is you’re looking to play on the keyboard. Getting to
the right Patch List screen is Step One in selecting sounds.
Navigating to the Desired Patch List Screen
On the Single Play screen, select the Part Group parameter, and1
choose the source of the sound you want. You can select:
Internal—
• to select patches, rhythm sets, and sample sets from
ROM or stored in the currently loaded project.
EXP1 or EXP 2—
• to select patches or rhythm sets from an installed
ARX board.
External—
• to select sounds in an external MIDI module.
Click F1 (Patch List) to display the desired Patch List screen.
2
Selecting an Internal Patch for the Keyboard
Click F3 (Patch) if it’s not already blue.1
Choose the patch category you want, and then the desired patch2
within the selected category.
Click F8 (Select) to load the patch into work RAM.
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Beneath the patch list are the MIDI Bank Select and Program Change
values for the selected patch, information you’ll need if you wish to
select Fantom-G patches from an external MIDI device such as a DAW.
Selecting an Internal Rhythm Set for the Keyboard
Click F4 (Rhythm Set) if it’s not already blue.1
Highlight the desired rhythm set.2
Click F8 (select) to load the rhythm set into work RAM.3
Selecting Keyboard ARX Patches and Rhythm Sets
When you set the Single Play screen’s Part Group parameter to EXP 1 or EXP
2, and then click F1 (Patch List), the Fantom-G shows you a patch list screen
that contains the sounds available on the selected ARX board.
The Patch List screen for ARX-01 The Patch List screen for ARX-02
Highlight the desired sound.1
Click F8 (select) to load the selected sound into work RAM.2
Selecting a Sample Set for the Keyboard
A sample set is a type of patch that plays samples already loaded in
your sample RAM.
Click F5 (Sample Set) if it’s not already blue.1
Highlight the desired sample set, and then click F8 (select) to load it2
into work RAM.
Selecting an External Sound to Play on the Keyboard
The External Patch List screen allows you to transmit a MIDI Program
Change value to your external MIDI device in order to select a sound from
its currently selected sound bank.
If you don’t want to change sounds in your external device from the
Fantom-G, select NO SEND on the Patch List screen.

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To select a sound from a sound bank in an external device simply by
selecting a patch on the Fantom-G, set the desired sound’s Bank Select
MSB and LSB values on the Single Play screen using the Type and Bank
parameters, go to the Patch List screen and select the sound’s Program
Change value, and then save this setup as a Favorite.
Highlight the desired Program Change value, or NO SEND if you don’t1
want to transmit one.
Click F8 (select) to return to the Single Play screen.
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Patch List Screen Tools
QWERTY Searching on the Patch List Screen
On Page 4 of the Power User Control Fantom-G Workshop booklet, we
introduced QWERTY searching, a valuable tool you should certainly take
advantage of in the Patch List window.
Previewing Patches and Rhythm Sets
When you’re looking for patches and rhythm sets on the Patch List screen,
the Fantom-G’s Preview feature lets you audition each sound before
committing to its selection. To audition a patch or rhythm set, highlight it
and then hold down F7 (Preview).
By default, the Preview feature’s set to play a musically appropriate phrase
for the currently selected patch or rhythm set.
Customizing the Preview Feature
If a musical phrase isn’t the way you want to check out your sounds, you can
change the way Preview works. Here’s how:
Press the MENU button, and then click F2 (System).
1
Select the Preview tab on the left side of the screen.2
Select the Preview Mode parameter. Set it as desired to:3
PHRASE—• This is the default setting with which the Fantom-G
chooses an audition phrase for the sound to play. (If you select
PHRASE, skip down to Step 5 below.)
CHORD—
• The Fantom-G plays a four-note chord each time you
click F7 (Preview) on the Patch List screen.
SINGLE—
• The Fantom-G plays one of a series of four notes each
time you click F7 (Preview) on the Patch List screen.
If you selected
4 CHORD or SINGLE, set up the notes you want the
Fantom-G to play for Preview. There are two parameters for each of
the four Preview notes:
Preview [1-4] Note Number—
• allows you to select the note to be
played.
Preview [1-4] Velocity—
• allows you to select the volume at which
the note plays, with a value of 127 being full volume.
Click F7 (Sys Write) to store your Preview settings, and then press EXIT
5
to leave the screen.

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Selecting a Rhythm Set for the Pads
When the pads are in the Rhythm pad mode, here’s how to select the rhythm
set they play from the Single Play screen:
Highlight the Pad Mode parameter and select
1 RHYTHM.
Set the Dynamic Pad area’s Part Group parameter to:
2
Internal—• to use a rhythm kit from internal memory.
EXP1, EXP 2—
• to use a rhythm kit from an installed ARX board.
External—
• to play a rhythm kit in an external MIDI device.
Highlight the Dynamic Pads area’s Bank parameter and set it to:
3
USER—• to select one of your own rhythm sets in the current
project to play.
PRESET—
• to select a factory preset rhythm set to play.
GM—
• to select one of the built-in General MIDI rhythm sets to
play on the pads.
Highlight the Number/Name parameter.
4
Select the desired rhythm set.5
To learn about the rhythm pad settings on the Pad Settings screen, as
well as more about Rhythm pad mode and about using the pads, see
the Power User Control 2: The Pads Workshop booklet.
Selecting a Sample Set for the Pads
When the pads are set to the Sample pad mode, you can select a sample set
to play on the pads from the Single Play screen. Here’s how:
Highlight the Pad Mode parameter and select
1 SAMPLE PAD.
Highlight the Number/Name parameter.
2
Select the sample set you want to play on the pads.3
To learn about the sample pad settings, the Sample pad mode and using
the pads, see the Power User Control 2: The Pads Workshop booklet.
Editing Single Mode’s Parts
As you may have figured out with our earlier mentions of the Single Play
screen’s Part Number and Pad Part parameters, Single mode has parts just
like Live mode and Studio mode even though they’re not quite as visible.
The keyboard in Single mode—
• uses Part 1.
Single mode’s sample set—
• uses Part 7.
Single mode’s rhythm set—
• uses Part 8.
Each part has its own set of parameters that determine how the part plays its
sound. This lets you change the way a part’s sound behaves without having
to actually re-program the sound itself. Once you store a part’s settings—as
part of your system settings—any sound you select for the part will behave
accordingly. There are some very handy part parameters available.
To adjust part settings, click F3 (Part View) on the Single Play screen.
Use F1 (Group/Up) and F2 (Group/Down) to select the desired family of part
parameters.
On the Single mode Part View screen, you can change the part group
from which the keyboard draws its sound by clicking the part group’s
F3-F6 button, or if you’re using a mouse, clicking the desired part
group’s name at the top of the screen. If you select EXP 1 or EXP 2,
you’ll need to set the Patch/Number Name parameter to select the
desired sound after switching part groups, or return to the Single Play
screen and click F1 (Patch List) to find the ARX sound you want.

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The Single Mode Part Parameters
Here’s what you can do with each Single mode Part View parameter group.
Some of the following descriptions involve sound-programming terms.
To learn more, see the Editing Fantom-G Patches and Rhythm Sets
Workshop booklet or the Owner’s Manual starting on Page 89.
Group: Available Settings:
Level/Pan These are the part’s most basic parameters. If
the keyboard’s part group is:
Internal, EXP1, or EXP 2—• you can select a
sound for a part, mute it, adjust its volume
or panning, set whether or not its sound
plays in response to MIDI data received
from the Fantom-G keyboard or an external
MIDI device, set its MIDI channel.
External—
• you can enter MIDI Bank Select
and Program Change values for selecting a
sound in an external device, or set the MIDI
Volume and Pan values to be transmitted.
Keyboard Here are Single mode’s ARP (“Arpeggio”), SAM
(“Sample”) indicators and the RHY (“Rhythm”)
switch. If the keyboard’s part group is:
Internal, EXP 1, or EXP 2—• you can turn
on an EXP slot’s RHY switch to make it
the rhythm part if you’ve got a rhythm-
oriented ARX board like the ARX-01. This
allows you to play its rhythm sets from
the pads. Otherwise, you can designate
Internal Part 8 as the rhythm part to play an
internal rhythm set from the pads.
External—
• you can turn on the External
RHY switch to play external MIDI sounds
from the pads. You can turn on or off the
keyboard’s transmission of MIDI data with
the KBD switch.
Group: Available Settings:
Output/EFX These parameters allow you to set the output
destination of Internal or EXP part sounds.
When the keyboard’s part group is:
Internal—• the part’s sound can be sent
directly to the A or B pair of stereo outputs,
or to the individual Outputs 1, 2, 3, or 4.
You can also set the part’s output level
and the amount of the sound sent to the
chorus and reverb effect processors.
EXP 1 or EXP 2—
• the part’s sound can
be sent directly to the A stereo output
pair with the DRY setting, or, with the
EXP setting, follow the routing on the
expansion board’s Effects/Routing screen.
You can also set the part’s output level, as
well as the amount of its sound to be sent
to the expansion board’s EFX 1 and EFX 2
processors.
Pitch For Internal and EXP parts, this group offers
parameters for transposing a part’s sound, and
for overriding its pre-programmed pitch-bend
and portamento (glide) settings, depending on
the EXP board installed.
Scale Tune This group allows you to use your own tuning
scale with Internal and EXP parts.
Vibrato With Internal sounds, these settings allow you
to add vibrato to a part’s sound in addition to
any vibrato already pre-programmed into the
sound.
Offset These Internal-part parameters allow you to
offset certain important values programmed
into a part’s sound, including filter cutoff and
resonance, and the filter and amp attack and
decay envelopes.

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Group: Available Settings:
Mono/Poly/Legato With these Internal-part parameters, you
can set a part’s sound to be monophonic or
polyphonic, and you can set it to move from
note to note in a legato manner.
MIDI Rx Filter For Internal, EXP, and External parts, this
group sets whether a part responds to various
MIDI control-change messages. For Internal
parts that use the same MIDI channel, you
can lock in the timing, or “phase,” of note
timings. You can also select individual velocity
curves for Internal and External parts.
Voice Reserve
It’s pretty unlikely you’ll run out of notes as you play the keyboard and pads
in Single mode, but if you do, it means you’re exceeding the Fantom-G’s
polyphony. Every synth or sampler has a maximum number of voices it can
play at once—this is referred to as its maximum polyphony. The Fantom-G
can sound a hefty 128 internal voices at a time, with additional voices
available from installed ARX boards.
Each sound wave a patch, rhythm set, or sample set plays is a “voice.”
Fantom-G patches, for example, can play up to eight voices at a time—from
four stereo tones—for each note. This is one of the reasons for its great
sound. As older notes sustain and new notes are played, though, you might
be surprised exactly how many voices are in use at any given moment.
There’s an easy way to find out. Here’s how:
On the Single Play screen, click F3 (Part View).
1
Click F2 (2 Down) to display the Voice Reserve screen.
Play what you want to play on the keyboard or pads—the Fantom-G
3
shows you graphically how close you’re getting to the 128-voice
limit.
About Sequencing and Recording in Single Mode
You can sequence MIDI tracks or record audio tracks from any of the
Fantom-G’s modes, since you never know where you’ll be when you get an
idea you want to capture.
Though Studio mode’s the best place for this kind of work—allowing you to
incorporate a lot of sounds, and with mixing screens designed for multitrack
sequencing/recording—you can still grab something from the keyboard
and/or pads (with multiple audio tracks if you like) in Single mode.
You sequence your currently selected Fantom-G sound or record audio using
the method we laid out in the Fantom-G Possibilities Workshop booklet, and
which we’ll discuss in more detail in the Sequencing and Recording booklet.
When you’re done, play back your music in Single mode.
We’ll talk about how to set up effects for incoming live audio in the
Adding Live Audio to the Fantom-G Workshop booklet.
Everything you play on the keyboard or pads is captured on its own MIDI
channel in a single phrase on the currently selected MIDI track. What you
played
on keyboard—
• is on MIDI Channel 1 within the phrase.
on the pads in Rhythm pad mode—
• is on MIDI Channel 10 in the phrase.
on the pads in Sample pad mode—
• is on MIDI Channel 9 in the phrase.

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About Using Effects in Single Mode
In addition to being able to use the global chorus and reverb, each patch,
rhythm set, and sample set in Single mode has its own patch effect, or
“PFX.”
You can select a new PFX for your keyboard sound, or edit the current one,
by clicking F5 (PFX) on the Single Play screen.
To work with the PFX for a rhythm set or sample set, you use
the Effects Routing screen that’s displayed when you press the
EFFECTS ROUTING button. Once you’re there, you view and
edit the PFX effect for the
rhythm set played on the pads in Rhythm pad mode—
• after you set the
Effect Routing screen’s Part parameter to Part 8.
sample set played on the pads in Sample pad mode—
• after you set the
Effect Routing screen’s Part parameter to Part 7.
To learn about the Fantom-G’s effects—and the Effects Routing
screen—see the Fantom-G Owner’s Manual.
The End
We hope you’ve found this workshop helpful. Keep an eye out for other
Fantom-G Workshop booklets available for downloading at www.RolandUS.
com.